Sex And Vanity By Kevin Kwan

Kevin Kwan is an author who needs little introduction after the immense success of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. I would be the first to admit that the trilogy really held me captive as I followed the theatrics of Asia’s super rich. So when Kevin Kwan’s new stand-alone novel “Sex and Vanity” arrived at Popular Bookstore in Miri a few months ago, I immediately grabbed a copy of it. But it was only recently that I began reading it. I have been too caught up in my bird photography, devoting most of my free time in my attempts to capture nice photos of birds.

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

The new novel features ridiculously wealthy characters, both Asians and Caucasians. Unlike the Crazy Rich Asians books which were largely set in Singapore and Hong Kong, the new novel opens and ends in Capri, Italy, and with much of the action taking place in USA.

Inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1908 novel “ A Room With a View,” the novel follows the exploits of Lucie Churchill, a super-rich woman with a Chinese-American mother and a blue-blooded New York father.

Her story starts with a visit to the beautiful island of Capri in Italy for her super-rich cousin’s over-the-top wedding to the son of an Italian count. She has a whale of a time and ends up having a fling with someone she would normally never consider , a young handsome Chinese-Australian by the name of George Zao. When she leaves Capri, she is determined to put it all behind her. What happens in Capri, stays in Capri.

Fast-forward five years, and Lucie is now engaged to Cecil Pike, touted as the most eligible gentleman on the planet. Then George Zao reappears in her life, stirring up long-suppressed desires. As their worlds collide, Lucie goes to extremes to push George back out of her orbit. I won’t reveal the outcome to avoid spoiling your reading pleasure.

Kwan’s trademark snark, which hooked “Crazy Rich Asians” fans,is very much on display in this new novel. As in his Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, his flippant footnotes are often very enticing. He excels at satirizing the uberwealthy and does not hesitate to drop names. The novel delivers but I feel that it does not have the spellbinding quality of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy.